president barack obama, august, 2009. he was absolutely right then. those facts hold true today. it's not just those facts hold true over a small period of time, mr. speaker. those facts hold true over a decade. john kennedy's quotes, president john f. kennedy, i just want to take you back, mr. speaker, it's not as if these are new ideas we are talking about. this isn't some rocket science problem that's suddenly been thrust upon the united states of america in 2012. these are basic economics. adam smith talked about these years ago. this is in one of john f. kennedy's news conference in 1962 as he was providing the largest tax cut in modern american history he said this, he said it's a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high and tax revenues are too low. that's where we are today, mr. speaker. tax rates are too high and tax revenues are too low. it's a paradoxical truth that can be true. he goes on. he says the soundest way to raise revenues, that's exactly what we are trying to do when we talk about balanced approach. we need to cut spending. we need to increase revenue.